Page 117 of Her Feral Beasts

I’m not surprised. I’ve seen Lia’s cottage. It was barely liveable. There was no evidence of drug use either in her room or on her person. I would know. I now control the drug trade within Animus Academy, and Aurelia has never sought any.

Then Fontaine calls up Lyle to the stand. He reads out his report from the last four weeks of observation. Lyle is honest and talks about Aurelia’s escape from him before she got to the academy and how he captured her in eagle form. He mentions her healing and her good marks, that she made many friends with the animas. Fontaine asks for clarification on some points and Lyle answers them in a clipped voice, staring down Mace Naga as he does.

I might not like Lyle Pardalia all that much, but the one thing about him is that he never lies. He also never cowers in the face of the power at this court. I can’t help but respect a beast like that.

When Khaliso Naga calls Aurelia up to the stand, I almost break the armrest of my chair for the grip I have on it.

The questioning from both sides is intense, but Aurelia sits stoically in the witnesses’ seat, as if the very moment she moves will be the moment she shatters. Her body quivers when Kahliso asks, “Were you aware of how much money Charles Halfeather had to his name, Miss Aquinas?”

“No, Great-Uncle. It was a surprise when I saw his house.” Aurelia’s voice is cold and something lifts in me at her addressing of her father’s lawyer. She also does not mention the dungeon—the reason she was there in the first place—which is an unwritten rule amongst these beasts and it proves her awareness of that life, as well as a sort of maturity, which I would expect from the ex-heir to the serpent throne.

“But you saw his house and would have known how much he had?”

“Objection,” Fontaine snaps. “Leading the witness.”

“Sustained,” Yana says. “Next question, Mr Naga.”

“Miss Aquinas.” Kahliso casually strolls in front of her metal stand. “The losing of your virginity was quite the… event, was it not?”

My shark goes still. Aurelia blinks and her cheeks flush.

“Objection,” Fontaine sighs. “Leading the witness. Relevancy? This is a character assassination.”

“Sustained,” Yana says.

“I’m coming to my point,” Naga says.

“Sustained,” Yana says firmly.

“You’ve had a beast killed before,” Kahliso presses.

Aurelia swallows. Her throat sounds dry.

“No, Great-Uncle, I have not.”

“Does the name Theo Krait ring a bell, Aurelia?” Kahliso says. But he doesn’t let her answer and speaks so quickly no one stops him. “The beast you lost your virginity to was named Theo Krait. You knew, your father follows the Old Laws. And according to the Old Laws, Theo would be killed for the deed. Yet, you allowed him to touch you anyway. Many times, in fact, overmonths, did you not? You knew exactly what the consequences were, and you did it anyway.Yousigned Theo’s death warrant, Aurelia.Youhad sex with him, no one else.Youforced your father’s hand.”

My body goes cold. The entire court stares in a sort of shock. According to our Old Laws, a parent can kill a person for having sex with their daughter for her first time. And apparently, Mace Naga did just that. I glance at the Serpent King and splotches of joy colour his auric field in yellow.

My animus roars.

Aurelia, who has gone ice-white, opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. Pain flashes across her face. A memory, I think. Perhaps the memory of Theo’s execution. It would have been nasty. She clears her throat and tries again. “I—”

“That is all, your honour.”

The damage is done.

As his daughter is publicly embarrassed, my shark hones in on Mace Naga’s body, his face, memorising every single line and sweep of his form. I memorise his scent. The way he breathes. The velocity of his blood pounding through his arteries. The exact colour of each strand of hair. The cadence of his voice. The primal psychopathic beast in me marks the great hooded cobra under his skin in the same way. My shark commits those things into a part so deep in my brain that an ancient part of me shifts. And it whispers only one thing.“Prey.”

Once all witnesses have been questioned, Yana Chiu rubs her brow and I see the surprise and wariness in her. She knows what has happened here. She also knows that she holds no real power. The power belongs to those who have taken it.

“The council will meet and vote as per the laws of our kind,” Yana says. “A decision will be announced at the close of business today.” Yana thumps her gavel. “The council will now vote. Court is dismissed.”

Chapter51

Savage

Istride down the dormitory corridor, hunting for my little messenger. Beasts scatter when they see me coming with my murderous face and intention.

---